Joseph Bennett Bradford

Joseph Bennett Bradford and Miss George

Joseph Bennett Bradford and his twin brother, Benjamin Bennett Bradford, were born November 14, 1738, in Prince William County, Virginia. They were the youngest children of John Bradford and Mary Marr Kingcart Bradford. Joseph and his first wife, Miss George, must have married in about 1755 in Prince William County. Nothing is known about Miss George.

Joseph and his wife separated after the birth of their four children. Joseph moved to Burke County, North Carolina. His first wife and their children apparently remained in Fauquier County, Virginia.

Joseph Bennett Bradford and Margaret Wilson

After moving to North Carolina, he went by the name, Bennett Bradford.
Joseph Bennett Bradford and Margaret Wilson were married in about 1765, probably in Burke County, North Carolina. Margaret was born in about 1742. Nothing is known of her parentage at this time. Bennett and Margaret had nine known children.

When the Revolution broke out, he fought on the side of the colonies. The article on The Bradford Family of Fauquier County, Virginia in Volume I of the Genealogies of Virginia Families states that, "He is said to have served as orderly for General Sumpter at Guilford Court House, North Carolina, in the Revolutionary War. His grandson, John W. Bradford, mentioned, had a mahogany clothes brush, inscribed, "Present from General Sumpter to Bennett Bradford, 1781." (Joseph Bennett Bradford / DAR 28 858; 83 227) The important battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781, was fought on North Carolina soil. In it, after a masterly retreat, General Nathaniel Greene held back the forces of Lord Cornwallis and prevented him from joining another British army farther north to attack Washington.

Our ancestress, Ellen was born in about 1781, followed by Bennett and Margaret's last child, Hamilton, in about 1783. It appears the family continued to live in Burke Countyfor several years. They are shown in the first census of North Carolina, 1790.

The article above mentioned states, "This second marriage, like the first, ended in a legal separation and Bennett drifted into Tennessee . ." We don't for sure exactly when Bennett and Margaret separated. By 1790, they had been married for twenty-five years. Bennett would have been fifty-two years of age, and Margaret about forty-eight. The family may have moved to Tennessee before they separated. Margaret and almost all of their children ended up in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Bennett and Margaret may not have separated until the late 1790s. Their daughter, Ellen, at the age of sixteen, married William Doherty in Jefferson County in 1797.

Bennett is again found in the census index of Burke County, North Carolina, in 1800, 1810 and 1820.

Margaret Wilson Doherty lived with her son, Col. Henry Bradford and his wife, Rachel McFarland in Jefferson County, Tennessee. She died at Henry's home in Dandridge in 1832.

Joseph Bennett Bradford and Susan Bush Jones

After separating from Margaret, Joseph married Susan Bush Jones, probably in about 1800. No record of their marriage has been found. In 1803, twin children were born to Bennett and Susan.

Bennett and his family remained in Burke County. He died in there on July 30, 1828. His burial site is not known.